Advert Analysis

The Vines
The first thing you notice looking at this advert is the green vines standing out on the while background. The visual representation uses links with the name of the band and the colour being predominantly green may represent their style of music for example being new, fresh and organic rather than almost processed e.g. techno. The same font is used in the whole advert which shows continuity. The design is quirky and is at an angle on the page which may link again to vines as they do not grow straight. Also, the time of release is clear to see as well and the simplicity in the advertisement makes that stand out more. The advert makes you want to go and buy the CD and listen to as it does not give much away as an advert. The quirkiness also suggests the target audience the band are aiming for are a young target audience.

Ellie Goulding
The first thing you notice is the main central image of the artist. This draws attention straight away as we know who the advert is advertising and we immediately have a connection. The artists name is written clearly underneath with the album name in a slightly smaller font. This tells us that the album name is not as crucial to know as the artists name but it is still clear for the market to see. As the font is the same style, this shows a sense of continuity. On the advertisement there are quotes from newspapers with a star rating which tells the audience that the artist and album are thought of as good and worth listening to. The colour scheme used is golds and browns which are very natural, complimenting the artists blonde hair.

Gwen Stefani
This advert is layed out very differently to the ones above. The image is linking in with the font used as it is portraying an almost fairytale style. In the picture, the artist is holding a crown and various items containing jewels. This makes the cover very glamorous and almost like a fairytale, not reality. The font also adds to the glamour. The bright colours represent the genre of the artists music as the audience can automatically guess this is a pop artist. The hair covering one eye brings a sense of mystery to the artist so maybe it is not everything you might expect. The eye we can see is looking directly at the audience which creates a sense of connection and draws an audience in. The cover looks exciting and is clearly recognisable as promoting the album, 'Love.Angel.Music.Baby.' as there is a small image of it at the bottom. The information including the record company and website is clearly stated at the bottom but in a smaller font so we can see this is not the information that it is most important to get across to the audience. The artist name is in a much bigger font to make it clear which artist this is, and the name of the album is slightly smaller but still big enough to be noticed. The colours used may also represent the personality and style of the the artist and album. Bright colours represent excitement, confidence and fun which may attract an audience also.

How do record labels promote releases?

-Magazines
This is a great way of promoting an artist to a specific audience for example particular genre music magazines.

-Television adverts
This is for a general audience, although artist adverts can be placed  after shows such as X Factor as many young people who are obviously interested in music to be watching the show will view the advert.

-Internet
-TV guides
-Radio
-Magazine covers

Amy Winehouse promoting herself on the front of a magazine cover.

-Billboards
These are huge and are ideal for places like football stadiums or busy cities. They are a great way of promoting an artist as loads of people will be sure to see it.

Bon Jovi promoting an album on a billboard in a stadium.

-Using synergy

Analysis of Digipacks

Click to enlarge

 

What makes an effective album or single cover?

I think the cover should link to the iconography of the artist. This is what represents their music so the colours and images used should represent how the artist wants to come across. Also the style of the single or the album should come across on the cover, for example Katy Perry's album 'Teenage Dream' represents the style of the music on that album. The theme is mainly baby pink and blue, with pink candyfloss clouds and candy cane colour font. The candyfloss clouds are also scented. This links with the title of the album because it is almost a dream world. This represents her as fun and original and represents the poppy style of music. The colours make the cover look very feminine yet the sense of nudity makes it slightly less innocent. The text on a cover should be easy to read yet be in a style that links to the rest of the cover or a style that is also used on other things involving the artist e.g. websites, music videos.



This is Katy Perry's official website. The clear link between the album cover and the website is the theme.

Intertexuality in Music Videos

Intertextuality is a text referencing another text which is used in lots of music videos. This may be a video doing a parody of another, or a video that's referencing to a film or television programme. Some videos reference to video games also.The Red Hot Chili Peppers ‘Californication’ is an example of a video game influence.

An example of a reference to fashion is Robert Palmer’s ‘Addicted to Love’. It was parodied many times for its use of mannequin style females in the band. Shania Twain used it in her music video 'Man i feel like a woman' but instead used men.


In Madonna's music video 'Material Girl' the inter textual image is from a film called Diamonds are a girls best friend. The image we see is a look a like of Marilyn Monroe and the layout of the scene in the film.

Artist Chosen

We decided to chose Vinyl Junkies as our artist as we liked a song called Dear Diary which we have some ideas for. We asked permission from the band and they said yes. This is evidence that we asked their permission and they allowed us to use their song.

As we know the band personally we felt we did not need to ask formally so we decided to ask permission via facebook message. Originally we thought we were going to be in a group of three, with Samuel Lai too but we later decided to stay in a group of two, Jasmine Bual and I.

Vinyl Junkies are an indie style band consisting of four members. One member has recently been replaced due to leaving for university. The members are all 18-19 year old males. As myself and Jasmine have both seen them perform live, we felt that we could connect more with this band as we know them and their music well. All their songs are written by themselves which is a  typical thing for an indie band to do but it shows the audience their raw talent. This makes their lyrics seem more "real" and the audience may find it easier to relate. The fact that our artist are of a similar age group and are a very down to earth, exciting group of people, swayed our decision towards choosing them as our artist. Their voices are very unique and sound amazing together. As Vinyl Junkies have already built up a wide fan base in their local area, and now in different areas due to them touring at the moment, this is very positive for us when releasing and promoting their music video.

Finding an Artist

As a group, myself and Jasmine have found a short list of 3 artists that we could use for our music video. To help us find these we looked on www.myspace.com/music in the unsigned section. The pros and cons of each artist will help us decide who will be our first choice to ask permission from.

Vinyl Junkies

http://www.myspace.com/vinyljunkiesuk
Pros:
-Know the band personally
-Local
-Good music and lyrics
-Lyrics could link visually
-Band have a good image and a fan base
-We may be able to record the band playing at a gig, but only with permission from the venue.
-Easy to get hold of them to get a copy of the lyrics or to take photos of the band.

Cons:
- Not known out of the area
- No Twitter account to promote them
- No singles released

Panda Police

http://www.myspace.com/pandapolicemusic
Pros:
- Built up fan base
- Twitter, YouTube and Last.fm set up
- Local radio stations have played their tracks
- Know them personally
- Local
- Released singles
- May be able to record them playing at a gig and take photos of them for our digipack.

Cons:
-Haven't got many songs on the my space so we don't know if we like any in particular
- Not known out of area
- We wont be able to meet with them to take photos of the band

Semi Precious Weapons

http://www.myspace.com/semipreciousweapons

Pros:
- The band has a blog and video blogs
- Supporting Lady Gaga on tour as she is friends with the lead singer
- Built up fan base
- Original and fresh
- Will be known by Gaga fans worldwide from the monster ball tour
- Lyrics to songs will be online

Cons:
- Live in New York so may be hard to contact
- May be harder to get permission as they are signed by a few labels
- More of a performance type artist
- May be hard to get hold of

Goodwin's Theory Analysis of Videos

Florence and the Machine - The Dog Days Are Over

-Images on white background
- Quirky
- Relationship with tune, visuals and syncing
- Instruments shown in video when playing in the song
- Choir in the video clapping the beat of the track
- Indie, tribal feel to the video and image of the artist
- As tempo increases the movement increases and becomes quirkier
- Artist has her own iconography (individual style, alternative, clothes and makeup build on this iconography)
- Closeups of artist

Rihanna - Don't Stop The Music

- Voyeurism used in the opening (looking into a mirror watching herself)
- Quick cuts create a relationship between the editing and the beat of the track
- Club style tune, links with the visuals as the artist is shown in a club
- Dancing is used by the artist, links in with the beat
- Cuts to artist alone, and back to club scene, creates a more interesting video to watch
- Actors in the club and the artist clap to the beat
- Artist lip syncs through the whole song

The Vines - Winning Days

- Artist lip syncing in parts of the song where the band are seen
- Quick cuts, e.g clouds moving through the sky, stones appearing in a sequence
- Performance for chorus of track
- Repetitive scenes e.g. stones, sky, wood on fire
- Closeup of lead singers face
- Matching visuals to music, visuals link with the lyrics
- Images of things 'finishing' e.g fire burning the wood, links with the lyrics

Goodwin's Theory

Andrew Goodwin came up with a theory to analyse music videos. The key features of this are;

- There is a relationship between the music and the visuals(with visuals either illuminating, amplifying or contradicting the music). The editing might match the pace of the tempo of the music.

- A particular music genre may have their own music video style and iconography (such as live stage performances in heavy rock for example).

- There is a demand on the part of the record company for lots of closeups of the main artist/vocalist.

- The artist may develop their own star iconography, in and out of their videos, which over time becomes part of their star image e.g. Lady Gaga.

- There is likely to be a reference to voyeurism, particularly in the treatment of women but also in terms of systems of looking. (*Voyeurism = screens within screens, cameras etc. Watching something from the outside and enjoying it)

- There are likely to be inter textual references, either to other music videos or to films and TV texts.

* inter textual- a text referencing another text e.g. referring to a film in a music video.

* iconography- e.g. Indie - performance, guitars, band members.
Pop - narrative, dancing, glamour, quirky, bright.
Hip hop- money, cars, bling, women
R&;B- darker colour setting, narrative, relationship between male and female character, glamour.

Websites

Akon. The first thing you notice when you go on Akons website is the theme which is blues. This may be representing a masculine character. The music genre is R&B which I think can be seen by the images and font used. It is very simpolistic but gives a 'cool' representation. Music plays when you go onto the website which promotes his songs before youve even read anything. The I-phone application advert is right underneath the image which is promoting that also. The artist name is in a simple clear font, in a big size so it is clearly recognisable as his website. The image of the artist is central and represents him as 'cool' as he is dressed smartly and wearing sunglasses. This is a typically cool image. There is a strip at the bottom, underneath the image promoting the album.
There is lists of options on the right, this links to different pages which is simple and easy to do. The clear layout makes the website more user freindly and is more likely that people will use it if it is simple.
There is a parental advisory in bottom left corner which is a clear warning to the audiece that there may be some unsuitable lyrics for young children. At the bottom of the page there are sliding adverts, advertising things to do with the artist.

Amy Winehouse
Her image and name clearly across the top in a large font. As soon as you go on the website this is clearly noticialble to the audience. There is search bar on the top right where popular tags are listed to click on. These link to various pages and is simple to use. In the centre at the top there is a large box with news and blog.This lets the audeince know anything recent about the artist to make them feel included and so they can get to know the artist. On the left there is a box for members to either sign in or sign up


A column down the left hand side of the page called 'Member Activity' connects with the audience as it advertises which people have signed up 'this week' and so on. The simplistic colours of the website page make the photos and videos stand out. There are many links and images/videos to look at which makes the site interesting for the user. There is a box called 'Amy cam' where a music video plays automatically when entering the site. This starts off with a song by the artist and then goes onto another artist (her best friend) whom she is promoting also. There is an advert below for this other artist.  The end of the video consists on the other artists track playing in the background with footage of Amy Winehouse and the artist talking about it which shows the relationship between them. Below this, a box called 'Music Tracks' has a list of tracks to play which the user can click on to hear. At the bottom of the site there are links to various websites such a Facebook, Twitter and Bebo which contain updates on the artists for people to follow and become involved.



To enter the Blink182 site, a link stating 'Enter' appears over a logo in the background. This instantly makes the website exciting to a user.  The site is set out quite simply with boxes for each set of information. This layout makes it easy to use and memorable. At the top there is a show of images of the artist along with the artist name and logo clearly stated. This makes it obvious who the artist is. There are a variety of links clearly across the top of the page which go on to different pages, for example, Tour, Blog, News, Media. These are extending on the initial information given on the home page. Down the left hand side is news about the artist. This is letting fans know what is going on with he band and tour dates available. In the centre of the page is a video of behind the scenes of a music video. This is letting in the audience to what they are really like, and what they are up to. A box on the left is if anybody wants to 'sign up to become a fan'. This is very simple and easy to do. Also, links to sites such as Facebook and Twitter are available, to get regular updates on the artist. There is also a box to get updates sent to a mobile phone.

CD cover Design

Eminem


Katy Perry


Rihanna


The Kooks


Calvin Harris

Branding

Branding is a great way of promoting an artist or an album. If an audience see the artists brand they know that its an official piece of merchandise and immediately recognise it is that artist. A brand has a logo which is easily recognisable and linked to something, in this case an artist of a band. Bands and artists use merchandise such as T-Shirts,posters,stickers,badges,hoodies and more to promote them selves or a new album to a global audience. It is usually global because merchandise sites are online and can be accessed by anyone. A good example of a band that is recognised by their logo is The Rolling Stones. The logo is used as a branding tool to advertise and promote the band. The logo has been copyrighted so that no body else can use it. Wherever the logo is online, there is always small print explaining the copyright rules. It is one of the worlds most recognisable symbols of rock and roll.

Having a 'niche'

Having a niche is when an artist has something original about them and this appeals to specific audiences. This creates a secure fan base within that market and creates an image that they are known for. Lily Allen is a great example as when she first came on to the music scene she wore big dresses with trainers. This was her trademark as well as her unique voice that no other female singer had sounded like before. She created an account on My Space and began posting demos in November 2005. Her unique style of singing was recognised and she attracted thousands of listeners and My Space 'friends'. Her talk singing was different and made her stand out from everyone else in the music industry. She also influenced fashion as she created her own clothing brand and girls would dress in trainers and dresses. As she has built up a name for herself she is now very popular so can be more creative with her music. Her fan base is already secure so she is always going to be successful as she is not like anybody else. Lily Allen is already starting to change her image as she matures but people already know her so this doesn't affect her popularity.

Another example is Lady Gaga. She is known for her image and outrageous fashion sense but this attracts people to find out more and listen to her music. She too is very successful and has her own brand identity.

The online revoulution

The online revolution is a major deal in the music industry as it has caused a massive effect on the money made my artists and record companies. Almost everyone has access to the Internet these days and websites like Youtube and Spotify are being used to listen to free music every day instead of spending money downloading or buying a CD. Although these are reducing the amount of money made, the promotional tactics are good. Many people are going to view adverts on Youtube and Spotify making them want to listen to their music. People may want a good quality version, or a selection of the artists songs so this may in fact cause them to buy an album.